11-03-2026 2:07am

Joy Oladokun brings The Heavy Things Tour to the Howard Theatre

Eme Awa Editor

Joy Oladokun, the daughter of Nigerian immigrants on identity, hope, and belonging. Photo by Graham Tolbert. Courtesy of Concord Records.

Published November 3, 2026 · 3 min read

Joy Oladokun's new album is called Hope Is a Heavy Thing, and that title is not decorative.

She is the first-generation daughter of Nigerian immigrants. She is a queer Black woman. She is a songwriter who has spent her career writing about identity, faith, mental health, and belonging—not as themes she chose, but as the material her life handed her.

"Hope is a heavy thing" is not a metaphor for Oladokun. It's a description of the load she's been carrying since before she had a guitar.

She brings The Heavy Things Tour to the Howard Theatre on Friday, November 13.

Who She Is, Briefly

The résumé is real. Three critically acclaimed albums before this one, beginning with in defense of my own happiness in 2021. A nominee for Americana Artist of the Year. "I See America" named a finalist for the Recording Academy's Best Song for Social Change. Collaborations with Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, Noah Kahan, and Maxo Kream. Performances on Fallon, Colbert, Austin City Limits, and NPR's Tiny Desk.

She has the credentials. This article's job is not to establish them—it's to explain why this particular artist matters to this audience.

The New Record

Hope Is a Heavy Thing was released September 25 via Concord Records. Twelve tracks, produced primarily by Oladokun herself, with contributions from Nigerian producer Spellz and a feature from Adekunle Gold on the track "Sage."

Here's the angle that matters: this is the first Oladokun record where the Nigerian side of her inheritance is explicitly in the production, not just the biography. Spellz and Adekunle Gold aren't guests on a folk record—they're collaborators on a record that's deliberately crossing geography. Reviewers have noted that Spellz brings a West African feel to tracks like "Easy Company," and the album as a whole draws on folk, pop, '90s R&B, and her parents' Afrobeat record collection.

The opener, "Raised By the Radio (A Re-Introduction)," sets the tone: sun-dappled guitars and a question—"What's your favorite song to dissociate to?"—that sounds like a joke until you sit with it. "Dear Maria" contains the line that gives the album its title, aligning itself with "the losers, the bruised, the old and the useless." "Zombie" describes the weight of absorbing human suffering and carrying it around.

This is not a light record. It's a hopeful one.

Why This Matters Here

Oladokun isn't an Afrobeat artist, and she isn't a diaspora-music act in the sense this publication usually covers. She's a songwriter whose work is shaped by being the daughter of immigrants and a queer Black woman in America—which is a diaspora story even when the music is folk-rock.

The diaspora isn't only in the rhythm section. Sometimes it's in the room where someone grew up, and in the questions they can't stop asking.

The Show

The Heavy Things Tour is a full-band show, though Oladokun has been known to strip things down mid-set. Recent dates have included solo moments and a Tracy Chapman "Fast Car" interpolation. Support comes from Nat Myers.

Keep expectations loose. This is a preview, not a setlist prediction.

Logistics

Who: Joy Oladokun — The Heavy Things Tour
When: Friday, November 13, 2026 · Doors 7:00 PM, Show 8:00 PM
Where: Howard Theatre, 620 T Street NW, Washington, DC 20001
Tickets: $39.39–$107.37
VIP: "Zombie VIP Merch Bundle" — GA ticket, early entry, exclusive merch gift, commemorative laminate, crowd-free merch shopping
Metro: Shaw–Howard University Station (Green/Yellow), within walking distance—about one block
Accessibility: ADA compliant venue, wheelchair accessible seating, companion seats available
Ages: All ages
Photography: Typically prohibited during performances
Parking: Limited street parking; nearby public garages including Progression Place at 1825 7th Street NW; rideshare recommended